The Antiquities and Monuments Office earlier suggested that Shelley Street Halal Chapel, Lui Seng Chun and the Hong Kong City Hall should be designated as monuments. Among them, the Hong Kong City Hall, which was completed after the war, is of particular concern.
The modernist building opened in March 1962, and it was all the more significant when last month, on its 60th anniversary, the Antiquities Advisory Committee agreed to a proposal to list it as a monument.
According to the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, with the approval of the Chief Executive, the authorities can declare three sites as declared monuments by notice in the Gazette and receive permanent protection.
The Hong Kong City Hall was founded in 1960 by the then Governor of Hong Kong, Bai Liji, and officially opened on March 2, 1962. It has gone through a period of time, but its birth is actually a little earlier than that in 1962.
Central was originally the political and economic center of Hong Kong, where the Government Offices, HSBC Head Office Building, etc. were located. The British Hong Kong government intended to inject cultural and tourism elements into Central after the war. In addition, the old Town Hall was demolished in 1933, so it was born. The idea of building a new town hall in Central.
In 1950, the Hong Kong City Hall Committee was established to consult public opinions. Later, the reclamation project was completed outside the Statue Square, and the new land was used for the construction of the City Hall.
The new Town Hall was initially sketched by Professor Raymond Gordon Brown of the University of Hong Kong, and was subsequently designed by Ron Philips and Alan Fitch of the Public Works Department.
At that time, other major buildings in Central, such as the High Court (now the Court of Final Appeal Building), were neoclassical, and the HSBC Main Building (which was later demolished and rebuilt) was decorated with Art Deco, but the New Town Hall was modernist, with a simple design and emphasis on play. function of the building.
The Hong Kong City Hall adopts a modernist architectural style, which is significantly different from the High Court at that time.
(Photo of LCSD)
The Great Hall symbolizes a new era
As the origin of modernist architecture in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong City Hall got rid of the pre-war European architectural style and opened a new era for Hong Kong.
For example, the Murray Building, which was later designed by Philip and used as a government office, also displayed the characteristics of modernist architecture, and even the Sha Tin Town Hall and Tuen Mun Town Hall, which were completed in the 1980s, also have their shadows.
More importantly, the Hong Kong City Hall includes the first public library in Hong Kong open to the public, plus facilities such as a museum, a performance venue and a marriage registry for all citizens to enjoy.
This is not only different in use from the high society social place of the pre-war Great Hall, but also symbolizes the transition of post-war society towards equality.
The Chinese take 60 years as a jiazi cycle. Today, Hong Kong has also undergone major changes.
The anti-amendment movement has broken Hong Kong's political environment, and the new crown epidemic has rewritten the social and economic landscape.
Amid the slump in industries, travel disruptions and social restrictions, local leisure in Hong Kong has received unprecedented attention.
Although it did not experience the war like it did in the past, the fifth wave of the epidemic took the lives of nearly 9,000 Hong Kong people.
Just like the new era of post-war reconstruction, Hong Kong needs to turn a new page today.
Perhaps the significance of the Hong Kong City Hall to us, in addition to its architectural and historical value, also has the spirit of the times it marks.
If the purpose of the Hong Kong City Hall in those days was to inject cultural and tourism value into Central, and to bring culture, entertainment and recreation to all citizens in a more equal and open manner, what Hong Kong needs today is to reshape a better life, in economy and leisure, development and conservation. Balance goes hand in hand.
With the repeated reclamation of Central, the Hong Kong City Hall is no longer facing the waterfront to the north, and many museums or exhibition halls have become independent.
But today there is a new West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong. The M+ Museum of Visual Culture opened last year and is very popular.
Sixty years ago, Hong Kong is still on the road of exploration.
Gordon Brown, who drafted the Great Hall, was originally a professor at the University of Edinburgh, and later joined the University of Hong Kong in 1950 at the invitation of Grantham.
When he founded the Department of Architecture, he said that the training of architects cannot only follow the pace of Europe and the United States, but must meet the requirements of Hong Kong society.
More than half a century later, we still have to ask about the planning and development of the entire city, what are the needs of Hong Kong society?
The new crown epidemic will eventually pass Hong Kong's future road. In the next 23 years, how will the success of the West Kowloon continue?